Hi this is my first time on this group. My daughter has been given a working diagnosis for ADHD and has been prescribed Elvanse 20mg daily. She has now been on it for a week. There is no effect with this medication. She says she notices no difference at all and feels as she has not taken anything.
My question is, does this have any implications on the diagnosis being correct (I’m still sceptical) as it is having no effect for her?
It took a while to find the right meds for both my kids so no, I don’t think the fact the first med isn’t the right fit matters. Your kid may need a different type of med.
More importantly why do you question the diagnosis?
I question the diagnosis because every Dr we have seen has a different opinion.
We started with our GP a year ago because she was always tired unable to concentrate and getting tearful about her performance at school no matter how hard she tried. She was also a high level sportswoman, playing at county level in various sports and the tiredness caused her to drop all sport. The GP said she was depressed after a 1 min consultation and offered her antidepressants which I refused. The second said anxiety and I refused medication again.
In the meantime I organised a full blood test privately which came back very low B12, folate and D. Everything else was fine. GP refused to treat her so we have had to get her B12 injections privately.
After months on the injections still no improvement in her concentration or tiredness so I organised a full cognitive test done privately which came back with ADHD. Dr could not answer what the difference is between B12 deficiency brain fog and ADHD. So we agreed to a trial of medication which we are 1 week into.
The problem I find is that the symptoms in mental health are so vast, you can just about diagnose anything. The only symptoms they cannot explain are her swollen legs and extremely pale complexion which they are just dismissing as hormones.
This year is GCSE year so we are trying to find something that helps urgently.
It can take 3-4 weeks for some meds to really make any impact. One week isn’t enough to say one way or another unless there is a major reaction (one med makes my son very angry, very quickly).
How old is she? Many girls are able to mask ADHD. My daughter had an impulsivity issue so we caught hers early. ADHD often coexist with anxiety. Both my kids have anxiety which I am convinced is due to their efforts of trying to meet expectations and falling short due to adhd (can’t focus, can’t sit still.. despite their best effort).
Med wise it could be the wrong one. One kid here does really well on stimulant meds; the other doesn’t. One needs an anxiety med; the other doesn’t. It took us 2 yrs to find a working combo for our oldest and we are now changing that as she ages. On the flip side, a friend’s kid has been happy on the first med he took for three years now.
Has she tried any mindfulness exercises? The son is using those more and more. Not a perfect solution but he is 7 so self regulation is still developing. But I have noticed a calming factor.
There are a lot of different options out there - which is both good and bad.
When my son first started his med at 15 he didn’t notice anything either. His doctor said he wouldn’t other than being able to focus more. We went in for his first med check & his dosage was increased and then he said he noticed he was staying in his seat and able to get school work done in class. He has routine med checks, which I believe is the protocol.
Like K0205 it takes time for these differences to make themselves apparent. In some people it’s not going to make a instant change. That said, if she isn’t feeling any difference at 20mg then she may need a higher dose. When I started Vyvanse (American Elvanse) I was prescribed the second highest dose possible because of my previous history of always ending up needing to increase my dosage on my previous meds. It also doesn’t help that she is an athlete. Depending on when she exercises, she should take her med after so she doesn’t metabolize it all at once. Like if she does a run in the morning then she should take her med after the run because if she takes it before her body with process it faster.
I’ve spoken to the Dr and he says give it ten days then give him a ring on Friday and he will decide what to do next. I think he means increase the dose. He said it was very good that there were no side effects and it is looking promising. He was more interested that there was no anxiety issues rather than an improvement in attention. I’m assuming that the attention comes with the correct dose.
Thanks everyone
Hi! My 7 yr old ADHD son said his medicine wasn’t working either but his teachers noticed a huge difference and pretty soon we did too. We tried several until we settled on a combination of greatest benefit with least amount of side effects. He’s currently on Concerta 18 mg and Guanfacine 2 mg.
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